26o 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct.  I,  1895. 
CoFFKR  IN  Mexico — A Mexico  telegram  of 
June  18th  to  the  Boston  Herald  says  : — “ Tlie 
cotl'ee  cro))  is  estiuiateil  this  year  as  available  for 
export  at  25, 300  tons,  against  20,700  tons  last  year. 
Many  nesv  plantations  come  into  bearing  this 
year.’ 
Vink  Cuetuue  in  Coeo.mdo.— M'c  call  atten- 
tion to  interesting  details  given  elsewhere ; but 
it  will  be  time  enough  a year  hence — or  even 
later — to  begin  to  speak  of  success,  if  such  be 
the  outcome  of  M.  Zanetti’s  experiment.  The 
very  (lescri|)tion  of  the  soils  in  which  the  vine 
delights,  indicates  the  boldne.ss  of  the  experiment 
in  Colombo  or  its  neighbourhood. 
The  United  Pl.\nter.s  of  Southern  In’dia 
are  reminded  by  the  Madras  Mail  of  the  pro- 
verbial saying:  “Everything  comes  to  him  who 
knows  liow  to  wait  ” ; but  instead  of  the  last 
word,  an  intelligent  compositor  has  made  it 
“ wail’' 1 and  so  the  Indian  Government  is  to 
hear  some  wailimj  with  reference  to  planting  wants. 
Paving  Stones.— Colonel  NVaring  mentions 
— in  the  Remew  of  Reoiews — that  in  New  York  the 
city  ashes  ha\c  been  utilised  by  being  converted  into 
paving  stones  ; — 
Fifteen  parts  of  ashes  to  one  part  of  Portland 
cement,  producing  a concrete  that  Would  be  admii’- 
ably  suited  for  the  foundation  of  stone-block,  asphalt, 
or  other  pavement. 
SunoiENTS  OF  Cinnamon. — For  the  last  tew  days 
there  have  been  unu‘'ually  large  shipments  of  cinna- 
mon to  London,  the  largest  sliippers  being  Messrs. 
Volkart  Bros.,  Schultze  A'  Co.,  and  Messrs,  de  Soysa. 
Altogether  over  a thousand  bales  have  been  shipped, 
and  the  product  is  at  present  in  great  demand.  An 
unfortunate  mishap  occurred  this  morning  alongside 
the  “ Glen  Orton,”  for  a large  bale  of  cinnamon, 
while  being  put  on  board,  fell  from  the  slings  into 
the  sea.  The  contents  were  recovered  as  speedily 
as  possible,  but  were  found  to  be  wot  and  useless.  - 
Lo-.al  -‘Times,”  Aug.  ill. 
Bk\zie  Coffee  Chops. — An  old  Sao  Paulo  subscri- 
ber, who  is  familiar  with  the  coffee-producing  districts 
of  that  State,  writes  us  as  follows : — “ Noticing  the 
accompanying  paragraph ’’—the  item  in  regard  to  the 
damage  by  frosts,  which  appeared  in  our  last  issue — 
“ I may  tell  you  that  as  the  result  of  a personal 
visit  to  the  districts  named  therein,  within  the  past 
few  days,  you  may  take  it  from  me  that  the  damage 
is  practically  nil.  So  far  as  these  districts  are  con- 
cerned nothing  has  hapjiened  up  to  nosv  to  materially 
depreciate  the  future  crop.” — liio  Xeios. 
The  Cookg  Coffee  Crof:  Official  Forecast. 
According  to  the  oHicial  forecast,  the  Coorg 
cotl'ee  crop  for  1895  !)(>  i.s  estimated  at  6,070  tons. 
Last  year  it  amounted  to  5,3.54  tons,  and  the 
annua'l  average  for  ten  previous  years  is  set  down 
at  3,561  tons.  The  coming  crop  is  made  up  of 
3 037  tons  1’1,'uitation  and  3,039  tons  Native 
coti'ee.  Putting  the  value  of  the  former  at  £100 
ner  ton  and  of  the  latter  at  £75  per  ton,  the 
coming  crop  rei>ro.sents  £303,700  and  £2-27,925 
re.siiecti vely,  or  in  all  £531, 62o.  I Ids  at  the 
current  rate  of  exchange  means  96J  lakhs  of 
rujiees. — M,  31ad, 
RUSSIAN  Tea  Plantations  in  tiieCaucasus.— 
The  cultivation  of  the  tea  plant  in  the  Caucasus 
seems  so  far  to  Inu'e  l)cen  very  successful,  and 
(our  Mo.scow  correspondent  informs  us)  it  is  ex- 
pected that  in  tlie  course  of  time  Ru.ssia  will  be 
able  to  grow  a large  portion  of  her  ow-n  tea, 
instead  of  importing  this  product  from  China 
•uni  Ceylon.  A Bussian  tea  merchant  in  Charkoll' 
imly  recently  paid  70,000  roubles  to  a tea-planter 
near  Batoum,  on  condition  that  he  could  have 
•ill  the  tea  grown  by  the  planter  for  a period 
i.r  ten  years.  It  is  'said  that  the  tea,  grown  in 
the  Caucasus  is  of  e.xcellent  (|uality. — Daily 
(Jhi'ov.wlc^  Atio’  *"'• 
Coffee  Planting  in  Selangor. — The  “ Selangor 
Journal,”  of  the  -23rd  August  says  : — We  have  re- 
ceived an  addition  to  the  ranks  of  European  coffee 
planters  in  Mr.  Spencer  St.  George  Carey  and  Mr. 
\V.  Greig,  who  have  arrived  from  Ceylon  to  take  up 
land  in  Selangor. — Local  “ Examiner.’’ 
Cotton  Growing  in  Borneo. — “ There  seems,” 
says  the  Kobe  Cbronide,  " little  doubt  that  the  com- 
mercial men  of  Borneo  will  be  encouraged  by  the 
expansion  of  the  cotton-weaving  trade  to  devote  their 
attention  to  the  cultivation  of  cotton,  and  we  may 
look  forward  to  hearing  even  more  about  Borneo 
than  has  been  our  wont  ” — S.  F.  Press. 
“ Planting  Ufinion,  a Fortnightly  Journal 
(with  Weekly  Market  Supplement)  written  by 
Planters  for  Planters,”  is  publisheil  at  Coonoor, 
and  a copy  of  No.  1 has  reached  us.  It  is  a 
modest  undertaking  of  about  14  pages  the  size 
of  our  Tropiced  Agricidturist.  We  wish  the  ven- 
ture all  success,  and  take  some  extracts  from  it 
elsewhere. 
Tea  Extension  in  Cevlon.— It  is  rather  a 
striking  fact  that  while  188,000  acres  woro 
planted  with  tea  in  the  time  of  Sir  Arthur 
Gordon  between  1883  and  1890,  only  85,000  acres 
have  boon  .addeil  during  the  term  of  our  i>resent 
(.lovernor.  In  1883  the  total  area  w.as  32,000  ; 
now  it  is  305,000  acres  of  tea  valued,  we  su])pose, 
at  not  much  less  than  ten  million  pounds  sterling. 
The  ” .Agrici'lti'r.il  Gazette”  of  New  .South  Wales, 
Volume  VI  Para  (i,  for  .luiie,  lS!)o  has  tlie  following  Con- 
tents : — Useful  Australian  Plants,  ,J  11  Maiden,  Colonial 
or  -Moreton  Hay  Pine  (-‘  Araucaria  Cunninghaiuii,”  Ait.)  ; 
Forest  Wealth  of  Gloucester,  A Rudder  ; Ueiuarks  on 
Weeds,  the  Soil  and  its  F'ertility,  .1  G O Teiipor ; Fruit 
Cnluire,  A II  Henson  : Australian  Entoinophytes,  or  En- 
tomogenous  Fungi,  and  some  account  of  their  Insect 
Hosts,  A S Ollitf  ; Cultivation  of  Hops,  J Coleman  ; 
Beef  Producing  Hreeds  of  Cattle,  J L Thompson  ; Chemi- 
cal Notes,  F B Guthrie  ; I’oultry  Notes^  .S  Gray  ; Prac- 
tic,al  Vegetable  and  Flower  Growing  Directions  for  the 
month  of  .July  ; Orchard  Notes  for  .July  ; General  Notes  ; 
.Sealine,  an  alleged  F’odder  Plant,  .Seeding  of  Red  Clover, 
Sending  .Specimens  to  Department,  Imports  into  United 
Kingdom  in  1894 ; and  Agricultural  .Societies’  .Shows, 
189,'). 
Coconut  Product.s.— We  have  a reque.st  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  “ Jamaica  Agricultural  So- 
ciety” for  information  in  respect  of  the  propar.a- 
tion  of  desiccated  coconut  and  of  coconut  oil. 
The  new  edition  of  our  manual  will  give  nearly 
all  that  is  neces.sary  ; but  of  cour.se,  machinery 
to  exj)res.s  oil  after  the  fashion  of  the  few  large 
mills  in  Colombo  is  an  expensive  matter  ; while 
even  in  re.siiect  of  the  desiccating  |irocess,  a com- 
plete set  of  the  machines  used  (including  steam- 
engine  and  boiler  to  drive  the  same,  if  avater  power 
is  not  available)  will  run  into  £400  to  £509.  We 
understand  that  the  Colombo  Commercial  Com- 
pany has  just  shippeil  a .set  of  machinery  for  a 
Coconut  Desiccating  Establishment  to  Zanzibar  ; — 
.and  no  doubt  the  West  Indies  will  want  to  follow. 
A Curious  Trade. — Consul  Scott  mentions  a curious 
export  from  Swatow,  viz.,  ducks’  eggs,  which  he 
has  observed  on  steamers  bound  Bouth  for  Bangkok 
and  the  Straits.  They  have,  for  the  most  part, 
been  incubated  to  within  a few  days  of  hatching. 
They  are  taken  on  board  the  steamers  in  shallow- 
baskets  in  large  numbers.  In  the  bitekets  they  are 
arranged  in  layers  two  or  three  deep,  each  layer 
carefully  covered  and  surrounded  with  soft  Chinese 
paper.  No  sort  of  artificial  heat  is  applied  to  them. 
The  baskets  are  placed  anywhere  about  the  deck, 
or  slung  to  the  awning  supports.  The  soft  paper 
and  the  heat  of  the  climate  as  the  vessel  runs  south 
are  sufficient  to  preserve  the  newly-hatched  ducklings 
from  injury,  and  not  only  so,  but  before  the  vessels 
reach  their  destination  most  of  the  eggs  are  hatched 
out,  and  in  lien  of  the  eggs  tliat  were  shipped 
hundreds  of  healthy  young  ducks  are  lauded  at 
Biugaporc  or  Bangkok.— i'lOHce/-. 
